Big Picture Science for 04/08/13 - Seth's Wine Cellar

Big Picture Science - Seth's Wine Cellar

There are always surprises when we sort through Seth’s wine cellar – who knows what we’ll find!

In this cramped cavern, tucked between boxes of old fuses and a priceless bottle of 1961 Chateau Palmer Margaux, we discover the next generation of atomic clock … the key to how solar storms disrupt your cell phone … nano-gold particles that could make gasoline obsolete … and what NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has learned about how our solar system stacks up to others.

Tune in, find out and, help us lift these boxes, will you?

Guests:

• Chris Sorensen – Physicist, Kansas State University
• Anne Curtis – Senior research scientist, National Physical Laboratory, U.K.
• Jonathan Eisen – Evolutionary biologist, University of California, Davis
• Karel Schrijver – Solar physicist, Lockheed Martin, Advanced Technology Center
• Jonathan Fortney – Astronomer, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Sanjoy Som – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Seth_s_Wine_Cellar

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for 07/02/12 - Nano Nano

Big Picture Science - Nano Nano

ENCORE Think small to solve big problems. That, in a nutshell, is the promise of nanotechnology. In this barely visible world, batteries charge 100 times faster and drugs go straight to their targets in the body. Discover some of these nano breakthroughs and how what you can’t see can help you…

…or hurt you? What if tiny machines turn out to be nothing but trouble? We’ll look at the health and safety risks of nanotech.

Plus, scaling up in science fiction: why a Godzilla-sized insect is fun, but just doesn’t fly.

Guests:

• Bill Flounders – executive director of the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley
• Joseph DeSimone – professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and chemical engineering at North Carolina State University
• David Guston – political scientist at Arizona State University where he directs The Center for Nanotechnology in Society
• Stan Williams – Senior Fellow and founding director of the Information and Quantum Systems Lab at Hewlett-Packard
• Michael LaBarbera – Professor in organismal biology, anatomy and geophysical sciences, University of Chicago

First released February 21 2011

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Nano_Nano

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 02/21/11 - Nano Nano

Are We Alone - Nano Nano

Think small to solve big problems. That, in a nutshell, is the promise of nanotechnology. In this barely visible world, batteries charge 100 times faster and drugs go straight to their targets in the body. Discover some of these nano breakthroughs and how what you can’t see can help you… …or hurt you? What if tiny machines turn out to be nothing but trouble? We’ll look at the health and safety risks of nanotech.

Plus, scaling up in science fiction: why a Godzilla-sized insect is fun, but just doesn’t fly.

Guests:

• Bill Flounders – executive director of the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley
• Joseph DeSimone – professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and chemical engineering at North Carolina State University
• David Guston – political scientist at Arizona State University where he directs The Center for Nanotechnology in Society
• Stan Williams – Senior Fellow and founding director of the Information and Quantum Systems Lab at Hewlett-Packard
• Michael LeBarbera – Professor in organismal biology, anatomy and geophysical sciences, University of Chicago

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Nano_Nano

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 03/01/10 - You've Been Slimed!

Are We Alone - You've Been Slimed!

ENCORE: Hollywood horror flicks have captivated us with alien blobs, but the slime slithering on our own planet is as beguiling. From microscopic machines to life on ocean floors, new research reveals how essential slime is to life on Earth, and possibly other worlds.

Discover the new materials made from hagfish slime… the social life of a slime mold… and the threat posed by the gray goo of self-replicating nanobots.

Plus, it’s been 50 years since it first oozed across the screen: why there’s no escape from The Blob!

Guests:

• Tori Hoeler – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Douglas Fudge – Biologist, University of Guelph, Canada
• John Tyler Bonner – Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, and author of The Social Amoebae: The Biology of Cellular Slime Molds
  
• Chris Phoenix – Director of Research, Center for Responsible Technology
• Andre Bormanis – Television Writer and Producer

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 03/16/09 - You've Been Slimed!

Are We Alone - "You've Been Slimed!"
Hollywood horror flicks have captivated us with alien blobs, but the slime slithering on our own planet is as beguiling. From microscopic machines to life on ocean floors, new research reveals how essential slime is to life on Earth, and possibly other worlds.

Discover the new materials made from hagfish slime… the social life of a slime mold… and the threat posed by the gray goo of self-replicating nanobots.

Plus, it’s been 50 years since it first oozed across the screen: why there’s no escape from The Blob!

Guests:

• Tori Hoeler - Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Douglas Fudge - Biologist, University of Guelph, Canada
• John Tyler Bonner - Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, and author of The Social Amoebae: The Biology of Cellular Slime Molds
• Chris Phoenix - Director of Research, Center for Responsible Technology
• Andre Bourmanis - Television Writer and Producer

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.